The current study seeks to identify a possible connection between the consolidation and reorganization of public school districts and schools and state-level legislation throughout the United States from 1993 through 2012. A mixed methods approach was utilized. Quantitative analysis of statewide public school district data identified states…

This study examined whether or not enrollment, poverty rate, and district type could be used to predict cost and achievement, as measured on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test and Prairie State Achievement Exam, at the building and district levels within the state of Illinois. This study provides quantitative data that will aid educational…

On March 31, 2011, Governor Quinn of Illinois called for schools to consolidate in order to become more financially and administratively efficient. This call for massive school reform is not new. Although consolidation, or reducing the number of school districts to save administrative costs, seemed radical to some, the idea of sharing services to…

The growing body of research on school consolidation does not detail the role of the high school principal. This revelatory case study examined a principal in an Illinois high school during the first year of consolidation. Furthermore, this study is informed by two separate bodies of literature. The first relates to school district consolidation.…

This policy brief reviews the arguments for and against school district consolidation and the research regarding consolidation effects, with data specific to school districts in Illinois. A tiered approach to studying consolidation potential is presented as a viable option for policymakers to consider. The following topics are presented: (1)…

In American popular culture, the word "rural" invokes images of sunny farms and little red schoolhouses--while "urban" means drugs, poverty, and crime. But those who know the reality of both worlds will say that rural schools face many of the same challenges as their urban counterparts. The problems of rural schools are often…

During the 2004-2005 school year, Community Consolidated School District 146, in Tinley Park, Illinois, embarked on a journey to become more familiar with the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS). This journey culminated with the launch of a comprehensive WebQuest for third graders about the American Revolution. The detail that sets…

The consolidation of 5 school districts into one, encompassing 377 square miles in Illinois, is described in this booklet. Information is included on the actual consolidation; the people and communities served by the new school district; programs and facilities in the elementary schools and the high school; and the Title III, Elementary and…

Challenges a 1985 Illinois State Board of Education report inferring that students attending high schools with enrollments below 500 have fewer learning opportunities and (based on achievement test scores) are generally less well-educated than students attending larger schools. Results actually favor smaller high schools despite the trend toward…

Results of a 20-year longitudinal study to determine whether change in the presence or absence of schools and in the number of schools operating in a community could be demonstrated to influence community growth. Available from: Rural Sociological Society, 325 Morgan Hall, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37916. (NEC)

Consolidations come in all shapes and sizes, including mergers, annexations and dissolutions. They do not all take place under state mandate, however. A handful of districts consolidate every year in some states like Illinois that have large numbers of small districts, many of them dual districts that serve K-8 or 9-12 in the same geographic area.…

Based on case studies of the impact of declining enrollments during the 1976-77 school year in each of 9 rural Illinois school districts, this paper addresses the following: enrollment decline in smaller cities across the nation, with particular emphasis on Illinois; demographic characteristics of the east central region of Illinois, with…

By virtue of a Title III Elementary and Secondary Education Act grant, the feasibility of consolidating 7 Illinois high schools was studied. Areas of consideration were geographic characteristics, high school and elementary curriculum, and cost considerations relative to high school and elementary school buildings, curriculum, transportation,…

Lessons learned in the merger of two junior high schools, one predominantly black and one predominantly white, with a history of competition and distrust, illustrate the sense of community that can be developed with shared decision making and respect for cultural differences. Reducing ability grouping was vital in unifying the academic structures.…

In 1985, Illinois adopted state legislation supporting school district mergers. In one rural district studied, local opposition to consolidation was based on self-interest, ideologies of localism and traditionalism, and (to a lesser extent) research information. Implications for policymakers and the complexity of the "local control"…